Review: The Curing Room a harrowing but measured drama

As I sat watching Theatre Basement’s production of David Ian Lee’s harrowing drama The Curing Room, I kept thinking it was no Lord of the Flies.

Then it slowly became clear.

This story about seven Soviet soldiers left to die by their Nazi captives in the cellar of an abandoned monastery in Poland is just a variation on Lord of the Flies.

Without adult guidance and supervision, the school boys in Lord of the Flies reverted to little savages, even killing the weakest of their group.

In The Curing Room, stripped of absolutely everything, the Darwinian survival instinct kicks in and these seven men also become savages.

So that the idea of devolving is not lost on her audiences, director Gail Hanrahan gives us some powerful images.

There’s Grayson Ogle’s Drossov, a brutish self-styled killing machine, who thrusts his head and jaw forward and bares his teeth when he threatens anyone and he knows just how to pick out the weak or injured to suffer his wrath.

A director doesn’t just allow such a chilling animal performance, she guides it.

Nearer the end of the play, three of the men, each holding a bone in their hand, spar off against each other lolling rather than walking. It’s right out of the opening scene of 2001 A Space Odyssey with the apes approaching the monolith.

It begs the question that even if the survivors are rescued, will they ever be able to regain their humanity.

The Curing Room gained instant fame and notoriety when it premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2014, firstly because the actors appear nude for the entire 90 minutes and because of its graphic portrayal of cannibalism.

It is with great relief that I can report Hanrahan treats both of these aspects of the play with dignity and sensitivity.

There is nothing gratuitous or sensational about her staging and this script in a lesser director’s grip could have been nauseating and repugnant. It’s still unnerving and harrowing but it is not stomach churning.

It’s a genuine horror story and precisely why Theatre BSMT chose it for its first season of theatre of horror.

The nudity is not a gimmick.

Because these soldiers have no uniforms, it’s not really clear who outranks whom, which is so very important in the military and it puts them all on a more equal footing quicker.

The play itself deals with the nudity very early on because the captain (A.J. Baragar) tells the men to form a circle and really look at one another to get over what embarrassment they may have.

He stresses it’s just another bit of flesh and that’s what it all becomes quite quickly for the audience.

Baragar shows the captain’s struggle with knowing just how truthful to be about their situation.

Lee structures his play as a series of short scenes which take us through the months these men endure and the unthinkable thing they must do to survive. There are many discussions about morality, patriotism, friendship and the loved ones the men have left behind.

Jay Whitehead’s Ehrinberg is the voice of reason and it’s one of those performances that grows in strength.

The idea of male bonding is shown through the characters of Poleko (Stuart McDougall), a man who was training to be a clown when he was conscripted and Yuri (Conner Christmas), a mentally damaged young man who is like a pit bull – gentle until commanded to kill.

Poleko is Yuri’s protector and we see this bond so strongly in the tenderness of McDougall and Christmas’s performances.

Marek Czuma’s Sukeruk wants to do the right thing but grows increasingly and understandably frustrated, and it’s clear Graham Mothersill’s Kozlov is hiding something.

At times I felt the actors were rushing through their dialogue or simply shouting it at one another.

A play like this demands the actors understand and believe everything they are saying if they want us to believe and that didn’t always happen for me.

I think this is a fine production of a very difficult play, but that doesn’t mean I recommend it for all viewers.

You have to know what you’re going to see and hear before heading down to the basement theatre in the Lantern Church in Inglewood.

Talk about an ideal location for this play, which is set in the basement of a church.

The show was sold out opening night and ticket sales are brisk so it is advisable to book your tickets in advance to avoid the disappointment of getting down there only to be turned away.

The play has a limited run until March 11.

Performances are at 8 p.m. and tickets which can be reserved at theatrebasmt.tickit.ca are $25 general and $20 for students and seniors.

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